Further improvements to NAIT scheme

Proposed law changes
to further improve the National Animal Identification and
Tracing (NAIT) scheme were unveiled today by Minister for
Biosecurity Damien O’Connor The NAIT Review, released in
2018, and the Mycoplasma bovis Eradication Programme
highlighted significant flaws in the NAIT scheme.

“These proposals are the next step to create the animal
tracing scheme New Zealand needs to keep our primary sectors
and economy safe,” Damien O’Connor said.

The
proposed changes will: • tighten rules for
handling untagged animals, • improve the use of
data, • align penalties with other Acts to reflect
the seriousness of non-compliance, and • make
changes to the performance framework for the organisation
running NAIT (NAIT Ltd).

This follows changes made last
year to improve the NAIT scheme, including operational
changes within OSPRI, and some minor technical changes to
the Act.

Farmers and industry were widely consulted on
proposals in late 2018 and the feedback was considerable,
and overall positive.

“I have heard the calls from
industry for common sense changes to make NAIT an effective
business and biosecurity tool.

“The proposed changes
will ensure there is proper oversight of the agency managing
the scheme, and gives the Government the ability to deal
with any performance issues that affect biosecurity or food
safety.”

“NAIT compliance has improved in recent
months and that helps in tracking and tracing animals in the
M bovis eradication programme as we step up our efforts and
try to trace every possible infected animal. However, more
work is required to improve NAIT.

“This week Cabinet
agreed to introduce the legislation in the latter half of
this year.

“The next step is to draft the new law,
which will then go through the Parliamentary select
committee process, giving people yet another avenue to
express their views on the final proposals.

“Meanwhile, efforts to get more farmers fulfilling their
NAIT obligations have ramped up with NAIT putting a big
focus on educating farmers about their obligations and how
to use the system.

“Compliance is important, but we
should also make it easy. This means we need to do more work
to ensure we have a world-class traceability system that is
future proofed.

“When there is wilful non-compliance
with the NAIT scheme, the entire sector is put at risk. This
is unacceptable and I know MPI is focusing on holding those
people to account.

“Combined, these steps will see
real changes for the industry and improvements to our
biosecurity system,” Damien O’Connor said.

Scoop Citizen Members and ScoopPro Organisations are the lifeblood of Scoop.

20 years of independent publishing is a milestone, but your support is essential to keep Scoop thriving. We are building on our offering with new In-depth Engaged Journalism platform - thedig.nz.
Find out more and join us:

The focus of Labour’s alleged sexual assault scandal has now shifted from the party organisation to the Beehive... This is now a crisis of Beehive management and response, not something occurring at a distance within the party organisation.

Presumably, the QC appointed to clarify what happened will eventually shed light on key issues. Such as: on what date prior to the publication of the original Spinoff article did the party hierarchy/PM’s office/PM’s press secretary realise they were dealing with a sexual assault allegation, and what did they do about it at that point? More>>

ALSO:

An official pardon for Tūhoe prophet and leader Rua Kēnana is one step closer after the Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana: Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill was read in Parliament for the first time today. More>>

“We have listened carefully to the growing calls from New Zealanders to know more about our own history and identity. With this in mind it makes sense for the National Curriculum to make clear the expectation that our history is part of the local curriculum and marau ā kura in every school and kura,” Jacinda Ardern said. More>>

Jacinda Ardern: “This morning I was provided some of the correspondence from complainants written to the party several months ago. It confirms that the allegations made were extremely serious, that the process caused complainants additional distress, and that ultimately, in my view, the party was never equipped to appropriately deal with the issue…" More>>

A recent trip to China has raised questions over who the Opposition leader Simon Bridges met with and why... Anne-Marie Brady, a Canterbury University professor and expert on Chinese politics, has described Guo Shengkun as the leader of the Chinese secret police. More>>

Torture is a crime under international law. New Zealand has signed (a) the UN convention against torture and (b) formal agreements about how armed conflict should be conducted. That’s the legal backdrop to the fascinating report released this week by the SIS Inspector-General.